


so, so

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Explanation, Crack open a cold one with the boy(s), Getting Together, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Late Night Conversations, M/M, Promises, they cuss a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lance never knew Keith thought he hated him.(takes place between s6-s7)





	so, so

Lance hadn’t been able to get a good night’s rest for weeks. The mattress he’d lugged aboard his lion didn’t feel the the same as it had in the castle. That blanket he had bartered for at an alien market no longer seemed as warm. Even his pillow, standard and unchanged since day one, held his head differently.

 

It wasn’t like Lance never slept on Red before. It happened all the time when they were on their diplomatic streak trying to pull in support for the coalition. Back then, his sleep pattern had been inconsistent so he never knew how many hours he would get. Resting on Red seemed like the easy way to make sure he was never late.

 

Then there was the time when he still had Blue. Just after their first major showdown with Zarkon and his planetary saving skills (not excluding Hunk, of course) Lance slept in the pilot seat. At the time there was no big, clear reason why. It was one of those small things he needed.

 

Even still, Lance didn’t have to sleep aboard Red. At least, not when they were stopped on other planets restocking food or helping to quell minor disputes. Yet Lance was adamant about where he slept.

 

It was while on a week long pit stop on the planet Mo’tarum that Lance seemed to finally hit his breaking point.

 

If, in the future, anyone asked about the event, Lance would have chalked it up to uneasiness. He would have gone into a long winded explanation about how he was war hardened and knew when to keep his guard up. About the subtle glares the Taruns threw at the paladins. His excuse would be he had no reason to trust the Taruns so of course he was on edge. Then, as always, being on edge led to his decline in sleep.

 

(The truth, however, was the dread and anxiety Lance had about the team’s return to Earth. So many thoughts of worry had wandered into his mind and begun to poke at him. He sometimes spent entire nights frantically switching between pacing, crying, and both. The nervous tug in his gut let Lance, of his own free will, deprive himself of sleep.)

 

That night, that long and dark night, Lance found it incredibly hard to occupy himself. The usual walks weren’t doing the trick and he still couldn’t convince himself to fall asleep. No matter how bad he knew it affected his complexion.

 

So he stood up and made his way out of his lion and down toward where the others were staying. He moseyed into the building he had been welcomed into several times over the course of the week and walked with purpose. His foot caught against the stairs. It threatened to send him tumbling, but luckily the droopy eyed boy managed to catch himself.

 

He grabbed a cup of water and then walked back outside. Lance sat right in front of the building, took a sip of his water, and looked up toward the sky. The planet Mo’tarum had an average sky during the day, but it was at night that it got interesting.

 

If you looked up after the sun fully set you could see the purple and deep blue glowing dust clouds. They looked like wet cotton candy stuffed with LEDs. The sky entranced him with its strange nightscape. It was as if someone took dusk and put it in a cloud.

 

To Lance, the best part was how the world seemed to have its own version of fireflies. Those light up bugs danced through the air and provided the paladin with another past time. If Lance were being perfectly honest, he loved the night on Mo’tarum more.

 

He stayed out till early in the morning before he finally fell asleep. Sunrise woke him an hour later and Lance headed back to the Red lion pretending like he never even left.

 

Later that day the team decided to go through training exercises. As they sparred with each other the team took notice of Lance’s slow and sloppy form.

 

“Hey buddy, are you okay,” Hunk asked as he lowered his bayard, eyes filled with concern.

 

“Oh, yeah I’m fine,” Lance responded awkwardly. “Just rolled onto the floor in the middle of the night s’all.”

 

Hunk remarked, “You look like you haven’t slept for days.”

 

Pidge scoffed. “He looks like Keith.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Well, how about we call it a day,” Allura bargained. While she wanted the paladins to be in top shape she knew how important it was for them to rest.

 

The paladins picked up their things and left to head to their lions or their provided quarters. As they peeled off, Keith trailed behind. His eyes followed Lance’s dragging footsteps, concern etched into his features.

 

The day went on as usual, each minding their own. Pidge and Hunk tried setting up a workspace to help build Shiro a new arm. Keith spent time with Kroila and his wolf. Allura caught up with Coran and Romelle, discussing different things about Altea, its people, and how their culture had changed.

 

Lance, however, spent most of his time sitting in the lounge area. He jumped into short conversation with whoever walked by.

 

When night came, the paladins returned to their preferred sleeping areas and just like before, Lance found himself awake in Red, unable to sleep. He wanted so bad for the peace to come to him, but his mind raced at a thousand miles. At the same time, if his mind was quiet, Lance wasn’t sure he would even go to sleep.

 

He did lay on his bed though. With eyes closed and blanket pulled, even then his mind raced. So Lance slid out of bed and stumbled to other side of Red. He snagged his jacket off the ground and slung it on, one arm after the other.

 

In reprise of his previous midnight walk Lance got up and wandered into the kitchen area they were provided with. He knew tomorrow morning they would pack up to leave by the afternoon. Lance could handle one more restless night. (Not one more night, that was a lie.)

 

Just as before, he took a glass of water and sat down outside. The Mo’tarum night sky still entranced him. His gaze titled up once again. This time there were two things different. One, there was a singular cloud hung above. Two, a face stared down toward him.

 

“Mind if I join you,” said the person looming over. Keith.

 

“I was just leaving.”

 

Lance pushed himself off the ground. He took a moment, stance unsteady as he waited for his vision to clear. When he moved to head toward Red a hand shot up and caught his arm.

 

“Careful,” Keith warned. “Watch where you’re walking.”

 

“I am.”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“Really!”

 

Keith stood there and watched as Lance slowly made his way toward his lion. The Paladin stumbled on his way, but he safely made it. After Keith was sure Lance made it to his lion he stayed outside for a moment longer.

 

The next morning was busy as everyone prepared to leave Mo’tarum. Hunk made sure everyone had a stock of pre-made meals to last them till their next stop. Pidge lugged their computer onto their lion and pulled their tech box behind.

 

Allura was in conversation with Romelle. The two chatted about what Romelle’s childhood was like. While Allura was still upset about Lotor she seemed to do better every chance she got to connect with her fellow Altean.

 

Krolia had finished helping Keith so she went outside with their wolf. Once Keith was sure he finished packing (not that he had much to pack in the first place) he walked outside with the intent to find and talk to Shiro.

 

He soon spotted the man and found him sitting with Pidge. The tech genius appeared to be explaining something about the new prosthetic they had given him.

 

Keith gave a rare smile and looked around. Everyone was accounted for. Then he did a quit double take. Lance was missing. He shook his head and chalked it up to Lance being Lance. He hoped it was because he was sleeping.

 

Fifteen minutes later everyone huddled into their lions. Krolia and Shiro entered Black, Keith’s wolf at their heels. From his position in Black’s cockpit, Keith saw Allura bring Coran and Romelle into the Blue Lion. For the first time that morning, Keith spotted Lance lugging Kaltenecker into Red. His lips twitched upward when he saw Lance struggle to get the cow up the ramp.

 

“All right Coran,” Keith said through the mic, “where are we stopping next?”

 

”Well since the nearest Rebel base is twenty three quintants away I thought it would be good to stop halfway at the planet Saurem. It’s relatively uninhabited.”

 

”Uh Coran, what’s your standard for ‘relatively uninhabited’?” Hunk fretted.

 

”There are people who live there but their civilization is underwater.”

 

”Ha,” Lance cheered, “like the mermaids we met. Remember them, Hunk.”

 

”Sure do. They had amazing food.”

 

”I wonder if we can visit them again.”

 

”Perhaps so.” Allura intervened over the mics. There was a rustle from her end. Her voice sounded quieter as she said, “Coran, check if that’s on our path.”

 

Then came a more muffled, “Will do, Princess.”

 

Keith prepared Black for flight and asked, “Pidge do you have the autopilot course set up?”

 

”I should have it done in a few vargas.”

 

”Good. Everyone ready?”

 

There was a chorus of affirmation from the Paladins as they all directed their lions up. As soon as they left Mo’tarum.

 

Soon after they began their journey Pidge finished the autopilot course. Over the next eleven quintants the team alternated watch duty and sleep. Each Paladin would get roughly six vargas of rest before they were awoken for another nine hour shift.

 

However, it soon became noticeable how Lance would drift and fall behind for a couple ticks while on watch before he straightened himself out. This drew Keith’s attention.

 

So far Lance had been through fifteen rotations. At the beginning of each shift there was a noticeable decline in his piloting, a decline which lead Keith to believe Lance wasn’t sleeping. Not nearly as much as he should be.

 

Finally, when Lance’s lion drifted for the thousandth time, nearly hitting Hunk. Finally, Keith decided he was at his end.

 

“Lance, I’m coming to your lion,” he voiced over a direct commlink.

 

”What? No, there’s no need — I’m fine,” Lance insisted despite the obvious yawn.

 

Keith muffled his laugh before he responded. “You are not. Your lion keeps drifting. As soon as we land I’m checking on you.”

 

”It’s fine,” Lance hurriedly said. “Stop worrying Keith, I’ll be fine.”

 

”You know saying fine more does not make it easier to believe.”

 

”Trust me Keith.”

 

”Lance just let me — “

 

”I said I’m fine,” Lance said forcefully, as though he spoke the words through his teeth. “Don’t push it.”

 

Keith backed off. He opened his comms to everyone, but resolved to still check on Lance once they landed. The Paladin would need it. Despite Lance’s instistance he was fine, Keith knew his friend. He remained in silence with his thoughts until his mother came up behind him and began to speak.

 

“He is stubborn.”

 

”That’s Lance for you.”

 

Krolia smiled at her son. “It is good you are worried about your teammates and you want to make sure they are doing well.”

 

”Lance is — he’s stubborn and doesn’t really like me, but he’s a good person. He’s a really,” Keith paused, “he’s an amazing Paladin. He cares about his friends.”

 

”He seems to be close friends with the small girl.”

 

”Pidge. Yeah, Lance was teamed with Pidge and Hunk at the Garrison. They’re all close. I think sometimes though he feels left out around Hunk and Pidge because they’re always doing nerd things.”

 

Krolia gave a small laugh. “You’re close to Shiro, right?”

 

”I was before I left for the Blade.”

 

"Oh.”

 

They both went quiet. Keith shifted his focus back to watch the path ahead. Krolia turned around and went back to sit in her spot. Their wolf shifted slightly to lay their head on top of Krolia’s foot.

 

After another quintant, another grueling quintant on bland rations, the team finally made it to their destination. One by one the Paladins directed their lions down to Saurem’s surface.

 

The planet was covered with trees of all heights. The leaves were strange giant fan shapes, but that wasn’t the weirdest part. While green was the most common color in nature back on Earth, somehow all the trees and grass and bugs were blue.

 

As the lions descended into the atmosphere Keith vaguely paid attention to the chatter over the comms over where to set down. He recognized the conclusion to settle on a hill not too far off. However, all the talk seemed distant.

 

For whatever reason, Saurem had shown up in one of Keith’s future flashes. What was so significant about the planet. Beside the strangely blue surroundings the planet appeared nice. Perhaps Keith was being paranoid and the vision meant nothing important. Or maybe he was just thinking of it in the wrong way.

 

”—not enough oxygen on this planet.” Keith began to register Coran’s informational words over the comms. “Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able leave our lions without our helmets.”

 

If Lance thought the lack of oxygen would stop Keith then he was sorely mistaken.

 

Soon after the group finished settling their Lions and organizing watch, Lance shared he was going to retreat to sleep. While the other Paladins accepted their friend’s excuse, Keith knew on the list of Lance, sleep was not there. Nevertheless, Keith let the others believe their friend’s lie.

 

Maybe the ~~Blue~~ Red Paladin needed some alone time. Though it wasn’t like he hadn’t gotten plenty of that recently. Surely, all the traveling through empty space in their Lions had gifted him all the downtime he desired. Still, Keith’s mind raced with explanations for Lance’s out of sort actions.

 

Yet, he knew, as a Paladin and pilot of the Black Lion, it was his responsibility to check in and make sure his teammates were okay. He had not been good at that before and had not been good at it while with the Blade, but perhaps he could change that now.

 

“I’m going to go check on something, I’ll be right back,” Keith explained to his mother.

 

She looked up and smiled at him. “I’ll make sure nothing burns down. I know what trouble magnets you Paladins are.”

 

Keith threw his Paladin armor on and pulled his helmet on. He then left the Black Lion and slowly made his way over to Red. The gravity on the planet was different from what he was used to. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t handle it. Just meant it was hard.

 

He opened his comms up to Red. He hoped Lance would be close enough to the cockpit to hear him. In his luck, it seemed Lance never left the cockpit as Keith got an immediate (exasperated) answer of “yeah”.

 

As soon as possible, Keith wormed his way in. He made it to what Lance liked to call _The Big Room_. Even the Paladin himself admitted it hadn’t been his most creative. Still, Keith appreciated the humor. The former Blue had shared his name for the area during a conversational lull at the Castle.

 

After sharing, Pidge (who had been sulking after another failed attempt at finding Matt and her father), Hunk (who had just finished attempting and failing to video call Shay), Allura (who was under severe stress keeping the Castle away from the Galra), Coran (who was, though he would never show, upset at having to skip over a supposedly fun and safe planet), and Keith (who was incredibly out of it with the absence of Shiro) all broke out into a bickering sort of conversation.

 

Whether they be trying to tell their Blue Paladin the real name of _The Big Room_ , sharing more creative names, or telling stories of crazy mishaps in _The Big Room_ of the Lions, all the Paladins got a short break to just be. To be a relaxed almost family -- not an inexperienced group fighting an ancient evil space empire.

 

After removing his helmet and taking most of his armor off, Keith made his way up to Red’s cockpit. As he walked he took in everything Lance about the Lion. The strewn blankets, landslide of souvenirs, the barely hanging corkboard of photos from their adventures.

 

“Hey, Keith,” the tired boy shrouded in blanket greeted. “Welcome back.”

 

“Lance.” He attempted to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace. “Are you okay?”

 

There went all of the tact he promised himself he would have. If their previous conversation had been any indication, Lance would push Keith away and not let him anywhere near Red for weeks. So Keith took a deep breath and prepared to have to verbally fight his fellow Paladin.

 

“Not really,” Lance whispered, “but I’ll be better in a couple days. Just need to think s’all.”

 

“Do you want to talk? I know I’m the last person you want to open up to, but I’m here.”

 

Keith cringed internally. He was nowhere near the best, nor most qualified to talk about feelings with. Especially when it came to Lance. The pair of them always seemed to be at odds no matter what had just happened prior.

 

“Actually, you’re probably the best, only person I can talk to about this stuff.” The blanket covered Paladin surprised him with that response. “You’re not really a part of what’s got my thunder down,” Lance joked, eyes downcast.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah. I feel like if I talk to anybody else they'll give me a pep talk and try really hard to fix it. I don't think anybody else would listen to me. You may not be the best at advice, no offense, but you're an amazing listener. The others kind of, interrupt me when I'm talking about my feelings or problems or whatever."

 

There was a silence, not uncomfortable, just one waiting to be broken by Lance.

 

"I just really miss home. Earth. My family. You have yours here, Shiro, your mom, your space wolf. I’ve got Hunk and Pidge and Allura and Coran and Shiro and you, but I still really really miss my parents and siblings. I miss bantering with them and playing with my younger cousins and niece and nephew.

 

“I know it sounds super weird. ‘Wow Lance, you’re so selfish.’ You just found your mom and here I am dumping on you, but I feel like because you just found your mom, you understand? If that makes any sense. I know you didn’t really grow up with her since, you know, she left Earth and all that, but because of that you know what it’s like to miss your family.

 

“Not that I’m trying to say you’re lonely or anything. I’m not trying to insult you and you probably don’t want to be compared to me, but I’ve…”

 

Lance stopped and rubbed the ball of his hand against his eyes. He let out a small deprecating laugh and looked over to Keith. He didn’t know what to say. The Paladins both stared at one another before Lance took a shaky breath and calmed himself enough to keep talking.

 

“I never hated you,” the ~~Blue~~ Red Paladin started, his voice soft. “I was aggravated and annoyed because you always did so well and were kind of a favorite child. Sure, not all the teachers liked you, but your place there was so protected, safe. That kind of made me jealous, but when you left I got over it. It kind of came back when we met again and rescued Shiro from the Garrison.”

 

Keith looked closer at his teammate and examined his profile. He always thought Lance hated him, if not before he left them for the Blade, then definitely after. It surprised him how he never even considered why Lance would feel that way about him before. The former Blue Paladin already didn’t like him when they ran into each other with Shiro, but Keith never spent the time to ask himself why.

 

“So yeah, when we first got here I teased you and, not gonna lie, I was rude. I thought I could never get along with you. I mean, I also thought I could never keep up with you no matter how much I tried. Honestly, I thought my whole goofball fun-guy thing won everybody over. Kids at school like confident guys. My cousins always laugh and they like me so,” Lance shrugged, “I don’t know. Then there was the whole Galra trying to take the Castle thing and after that I laid off because that sort of made me realize what an absolute stick I was being toward you.” The blanket shifted and suddenly Keith was looking at not Lance’s profile, but straight at his face.

 

“We got along and I really liked being friends with you. So I sort of started doing the thing I do with everyone else I get close with. I start banter with them. I’ll tease them and we’ll fight, but both of us know there’s no harsh feelings. It’s what I do with my family and I really missed my family so I sort of substituted them with the team. God, I sound so stupid.”

 

From the confused to stunned look on Keith’s face, Lance seemed to pick up fast on what the ~~Red~~ Black Paladin was about to say.

 

“I thought you just, forgot and went back to hating me.”

 

“Never hated you,” Lance pointed out as he turned his hand toward his teammate.

 

Keith hummed in disagreement. “Right.” He blew out an aggravated breath. “But not after I abandoned everybody for the Blade of Marmora.”

 

Lance’s eyes widened, then he pulled his face into a disappointed judging look. “Don’t be stupid. Dude, I didn’t like it at first, but I understood.” The Paladin mumbled, “It took me a hot second though.”

 

“What about after. When even when I was around the team I ignored all of you. You can’t deny I was a really shit friend.”

 

The brunet pulled the blanket around his shoulders and stood up. He looked the other straight in the eyes and repeated, “I never hated you.” He grabbed Keith’s wrist and pulled him out of the cockpit and down to where he was sleeping. “What’s it gonna take to get that through your furry head,” he teased and flicked his forehead.

 

Lance led him to his bed and told him to sit down. He wandered over to the precariously tied down bin across the room, yanked the lid off, and drew out a can of water.

 

“Hope you don’t mind sharing, I only have the one cold. I mean, there’s more in there, but I’m not, exactly sure what they are? Hunk and Coran picked them up forever ago and at this point I’m afraid to ask.”

 

Keith snorted and took the offered can. He cracked it open and took a swig before turning to the ~~Blue~~ Red Paladin and giving what appeared to be a smirk. Lance knew it was a smile and that his friend was just _really_ bad at smiling. He accepted the can from him and took a small sip.

 

“So?” Keith questioned as he looked at Lance.

 

“So.” Lance smiled and tilted his head in a taunting way.

 

“You don’t hate me?”

 

“No that was all an elaborate ruse to reveal myself as an evil robot secretly in love with you -- no I don’t hate you, how many times do I have to repeat myself before you make me resort to violence.”

 

“I’m pretty sure if you punch me that’s just more evidence you hate me.”

 

Now Keith was just messing with him. Lance was well aware of the fact, but it was the most amicable their interactions had been in ages.

 

“It’s called aggressive love Keith and dammit I will punch you if you don’t stop,” Lance taunted as he nudged the other’s shoulder with his own.

 

Keith rolled his eyes and nudged back. He swiped the water can out of Lance’s hands and drank some more of it. “All this talk, are you sure you’re not a bad robot secretly in love with me,” the black haired Paladin joked.

 

He didn’t expect Lance to choke (the guy didn’t even have the water) and turn bright red.

 

“You caught me, I’m an evil robot,” Lance choked out, leaving off the second part of his own joke.

 

“Oh har,” Keith jeered, his voice lilted sarcastically, “whatever shall I do against such a fearsome foe.”

 

“Maybe you’ll have to kiss me,” Lance muttered into his blanket.

 

His eyes blew to the size of dinner plates. He laughed nervously and pulled the blanket over his head to hide his face. He could not be more obvious. If Keith had picked up on that then he would have picked up on Lance’s feelings ages ago. Just his luck the boy was so dense when it came to emotions.

 

With his face full of fluffy fabric, Lance failed to notice Keith’s face. A face as red as his previous Lion. He was certain he’d heard that right. Maybe there was something strange in that water causing him to have hallucinations. Keith stared intently into the can as his furious blush only grew more intense.

 

He took another swig from the can and braced himself. “What?”

 

Oh, what conversational skill he possessed!

 

Why the hell was he so nervous about this. He did this all the time with girls. Flirt, act suave. It was probably because Keith was a guy, a guy Lance had no idea was into who. Or anyone for that matter. What if he just royally screwed up, creeped Keith out so much he would never talk to Lance ever again, let alone be in the same room with.

 

He was this close to biting into the blanket. Better yet why not bite his own tongue off since it was going to be such a traitor. Stupid tongue, making him say things like that. The audacity. Lance grumbled and lolled his head to his knees.

 

“Kiss you?”

 

The brunet squeaked from under his shield of fabric. It took everything he had (that was an exaggeration, Lance was just a coward) to barely nod his head in an up and down direction.

 

“Oh, maybe I,” Keith stops for a second and in that short span of time Lance has managed to officially die forever, no funky Altean magic to bring him back. Then he totally surprises (and revives) Lance by finishing with, “Maybe I will.”

 

Lance coughs and this time it’s his face that’s gone firetruck red as Keith slowly guides the blanket down from his teammate’s head. The former Red Paladin set his hands on his shoulders. He slowly turned the other toward him and tried to look him in the eyes.

 

“Would you like me to?”

 

“Kind of.” Lance lifted his gaze to Keith’s and smiled. “But you’ve got to promise me something.”

 

Keith jokingly rolled his eyes. “You can’t make this easy, can you.”

 

“As much as I want to kiss you, I want you to promise you’re not gonna leave us again. I know why you left and I understand, but I thought you were gone forever. This sounds so stupid,” Lance let out an anxious huff, “I didn’t think you were coming back. No visits, no drop in’s unless it was on Blade business. You acted like a total stranger, like you didn’t know us, or me. That hurt. That really hurt.”

 

The half galra reached over and took Lance’s in his as he assured, “It’s not stupid.”

 

Lance mouthed something before he continued. “Then we got complete radio silence, from you and the Blade. And I was afraid, but I couldn’t really tell anybody because they’d tease me about it. Normally, I’m fine with that kind of stuff sure, but I was real worried. Honestly, I thought you were dead or something. It took a lot to ignore it. I made a lot of excuses in my head. And you’re fine, that’s great! I just, I don’t want to have to worry like that again.”

 

“I can promise that. Only if you promise something as well.”

 

He looked at Keith with a curious shine to his eyes. “That’s a done deal,” he snickered.

 

“If anything’s bugging you, come and talk to me,” Keith said in a serious voice and a deadpan expression.

 

Lance couldn’t help it, he giggled a little. “All right, whatever floats your goat.”

 

“I’m being serious Lance, if you ever feel down or need someone to talk to, I am here for you.”

 

“So.”

 

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?” Keith smirked.

 

“I haven’t kissed anybody in a while so don’t get mad if I’m bad at it,” Lance rushed to explain.

 

The other raised an eyebrow, “What, you haven’t kissed in a while? You’re worried about what I’ll say.” Keith teased, “If anybody here should worry about being bad, it’s definitely me.”

 

“Wait a second here cowboy. If I’m the evil robot trying to win your heart, aren’t you the one who’s supposed to kiss--”

 

Before Keith could lose any of his sudden, miraculous confidence he went ahead and kissed Lance on the cheek. Both of them blushed. Then they laughed and fell off Lance’s makeshift bed. (It was a mattress on a obviously sloped frame). So they laughed some more.

 

“A cheek kiss.” Now it was Lance’s turn to raise his eyebrow.

 

If it was possible, Keith would have blushed so hard his head burst to flames. Instead he nodded and mumbled gibberish to the floor.

 

At Lance’s prompting (a couple knee nudged and a hand tilting his face up) Keith reiterated, voice still small, but hearable, “Can we take it slow?”

 

In the first moments of silence, Keith feared Lance would laugh at him. Maybe he would turn around and leave, taunt him for the foolish idea. Lance McClain didn’t _do_ slow. He was such a stupid, stupid idiot for even thinking to ask that.

 

Then, Lance pulled him into a hug, his blanket awkwardly sandwiched between them, spilled can of water on the floor.

 

“Okay,” Lance agreed, his face split with a grin to rival the Cheshire Cat’s, “let’s take it slow.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a farewell of sorts to the show. I was one of the people incredibly miffed about season seven. Not because of ships, but rather because of poor writing choices and sudden changes in characters. I began writing this about a month before season seven came out. My plan was to finish and post it before s7 dropped, but that never happened. Then, after s7 I lost my interest in vld. What first drew me in was gone from the show. I finally sat down and spent about two hours finishing this. It evolved from a Klance piece into more of a resolution piece and a goodbye to the fandom.
> 
> I enjoyed my time watching the show and I am determined to finish watching it, however this is the last time I will ever be active with the fandom. I was upset with how s7 ended up, but at the same time if it had not gone that way, there would never have been people out there talking about rewriting it, and in taking interest in one of those rewrites I got to meet some wonderful people.
> 
> I'm glad this show exists, because it brought me and others happiness and joy even if only for a short while. I hope the people who still watch the show and can enjoy it really do so.


End file.
